


Awakening

by ifwegettherebysunset



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Dragons, Heck the Police, Hurt Yusei, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Gore, Other, Soul Bond, and has a Very Active Imagination, because Stardust is Angry, incarceration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 07:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19204921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifwegettherebysunset/pseuds/ifwegettherebysunset
Summary: Neither the Crimson Dragon nor her comrades have been seen for thousands of years. It's still not their time to return.But Stardust's other half is close. Stardust's other half is suffering.She has had enough.





	1. Prologue: Dust to Dust

**Author's Note:**

> this idea came to me, as ideas do, at about 1 am last night

Fae had been the first to join Akakiryu. Where she went, Life followed. Stardust was convinced shortly after.

From there, Stardust went to Red, Blackfeather, and Black Rose. Akakiryu showed her gratitude to all of them by lending her power, and they defeated the scourge.

Temporarily.

But Stardust agreed to split a piece of her soul that would wander the Earth again and again, looking out for signs to return. It was a worthy cause, and she was loyal.

She felt her wandering piece keenly. It grew and developed over time into its own self, but the connection was unbreakable. It forgot being her, but it dreamed of wings and stars in every life.

The others returned to their realms, beyond humanity's reach.

She did not.

* * *

His name is Fudo Yusei. He has been incarcerated in a max security prison for not having a license he couldn't get. He unwillingly received a painful marker. He has scars all over his body. He has been betrayed, tortured, and beaten. He is seventeen years old.

There have been signs, but nothing concrete. Nothing to justify the Signers' return. Still, when their cards were made, the dragons allowed themselves to be sealed, catching Akakiryu's interest.

For the past two months, Stardust's has resided in a museum dedicated to Ground Zero. To avoid labor costs, prisoners are put in charge of cleaning the exhibits under strict and prejudiced guards. Yusei has been assigned to the team because of his constant defending of fellow prisoners, and everyone knows the exhibit team is where you can get the worst treatment without a warden or PR breathing down the guards' necks. Nobody cares, so long as the job's done. All under the guise of giving prisoners a chance to work honestly.

It's the closest he's physically been to Stardust since he'd been caught in an unfair duel and taken from her. Her stars shine brightly in him, unwavering despite its bruises. Unlike his previous lives, she's been with him since the beginning, when his father passed her card into his capsule and sent him away. Red and Blackfeather's souls are his friends―Red's in spite of leaving Yusei for shining towers.

Their connection has thickened. She can almost feel him as she used to thousands of years ago, when he was wholly hers. And he is in so much pain.

There are two guards and three prisoners. Yusei is trembling with the prospect of seeing Stardust again. It helps him get through the work of cleaning an entire museum in the span of one night. She's aching too. If he gets close enough, she can offer comfort as she did before their separation.

If he gets even closer, she can break this seal.

One spot of blood or sweat. If the pesky glass is lifted, she has a chance.

Akakiryu will not be pleased. It is not time.

Stardust no longer cares.

Yusei enters the exhibit.


	2. 1: One Drop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiroki fucking hates Satellite.

Hiroki fucking hates Satellite. His daughter was murdered by a marked fucker who somehow made their way into the city. It's full of gangs and stinks of rotting morals.

Fudo Yusei irritates him. Quiet guy with a mocking, holier-than-thou stare. Talks a big game about being the better man when he's from the pits of humanity. The pits that killed his little girl.

When they reach the final exhibit, Kai waves him off. Hiroki owes him one.

Fudo's given him a valid reason, too. Stopped working to stare at the card he shouldn't've had. He's got a weird expression, but Hiroki couldn't give less of a fuck.

"Something catch your eye, Fudo?" he calls.

Fudo jumps back into cleaning.

Hiroki taps the glass, getting fingerprints all over it. "Think you can steal it back?"

Fudo wipes the prints.

Hiroki unlocks the display. Security had to fight the museum on giving access to certain items, but they won as always. "Go on. Touch it."

Fudo stares with a thief's envy, but doesn't take the bait.

Hiroki grabs his hair and yanks him down. "Come on, Fudo. It's your precious card. You resisted arrest for this thing."

After a few seconds, Fudo catches on that he won't be let go until he obeys. Slowly, he reaches out.

Hiroki throws him on the floor. He lands hard, face-down. There's a crack, and blood starts gushing from his nose.

"Fucking Satellite. Clean that up."

Kai's rolling his eyes.  _That all you got?_

No. It's not.

Another yank, and Fudo's bleeding all over the Stardust card.

"How dare you?! Defacing a display is a crime!"

"That's another few years on your sentence," Kai adds as Fudo hurriedly covers his nose. "You better hope it doesn't stain."

The museum'll kick up a fuss if it does, but one locked display isn't the worst thing. Fudo's shocked face is worth it.

He actually  _apologizes_ to the card.

Hiroki's laugh is drowned in light.


	3. 2: Sound Barrier

The walls and ceiling crack under Stardust's roar― _Stardust_ , who is rising without an active disk.

Yusei is dazzled, but not blinded. The others are screaming, but he can hardly hear them under Stardust's rage. She's  _pissed_. He can feel it like tiny supernovas in his nerves.

"I'm sorry," he repeats, "I didn't mean to―"

She bows over him. This time, her light overtakes him, sending him to his knees.

His nose cracks back together. Bones that healed wrong over the years―his left ring finger, his shoulder, his right rib―correct themselves. The supernovas distract him from the pain.

He rises on legs that don't feel like his own.

Everything is tinted yellow but for Stardust. He turns, and the guards and prisoners fall over themselves trying to get away.

" _You_."

The voice echoes from Yusei's throat. He's not sure how his human cords can handle it.

His pupiless yellow eyes sweep over the guard that broke his nose. Having this vision feels inherently familiar, like a word on the tip of his tongue.

" _You and your pathetic corruption nearly killed my star. Were it not for him, I would rend your flesh from your bones and feast on your heart._ "

Stardust enjoys humans. But she does not have Yusei's capacity for mercy. That part stayed with him in human form.

That part?

Yusei wants to ask, but he can't speak.

" _Your organs would hang you and your tiny skull. You and everyone who dared lay their hands on this body._ "

Stardust...

She tilts his chin to the side, as if listening.

" _Pray that you never see us again._ "

Yusei's vision dulls to normal. He's barely able to breathe before Stardust takes him to the air.

* * *

Stardust yells a challenge to the skies.

Akakiryu snarls. But so does something else. Something hiding in the shadows of this little human city.

The others hear the call. Her Signer's arm burns with Akakiryu's acceptance.

"What―Stardust―"

She cradles him against her heartbeat. His teeth clatter with its force.

Stardust yells another challenge.  _You want him? Just fucking try me._

Yusei hears it and sobs. He is made of a dragon's soul. He believes himself unworthy. He is seventeen years old.

There is a response.

Red Dragon, burning for revenge.

Black Rose, screaming in blood.

Ancient Fairy, trapped in stone.

Life Stream, imprisoned in armor.

Blackfeather, lost in darkness.

Akakiryu is ready to receive them all.

Stardust flies.


End file.
